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Teaching Bible School in Jamaica by Joyce and Carmen Lehman
We feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to participate as members of the Jamaican Bible School Team from July 12-26, 2003. The short-term team consisted of eight persons; however, we were joined by Philip Rhodes, a young man who traveled to Jamaica with us and who will be living in Jamaica for one year, assisting at the Maranatha School for the Deaf. The first week we all lived together in a vacant house next to the Beilers’ home. Every morning the team split up to teach in three local churches--Joyland, Retrieve, and Abrams. On the following Sunday, our team traveled to three different areas in order to teach in three more churches. Carmen, Rebekah, and Philip taught at Ridge Mennonite, a new church that meets in the Maranatha Chapel. Kara and Olivia taught at Bethel church in Mandeville, and Joyce, Eileen, Karmen Heatwole, and Katie taught at Salter's Hill. With the exception of those at Maranatha, the team members lived in local Jamaican homes with families. Listed below are some highlights and memories of our experiences: The patience and dedication of Pastor Robert Henry, a leader in the Jamaican Mennonite churches. He was our contact person and source of transportation. We were amazed at his scope of responsibilities and his dedication to the Lord's work. Getting to know Karen Brunk, the nurse who works with the Beilers, and learning to appreciate her involvement and concern for those in the community. (Unfortunately, the Beilers were in the States while we were living next door to their home; however, Carmen did meet them the night before we left Jamaica.) Visions of little children still wearing pipecleaner eyeglasses days after they made them in Bible School. The object lesson was to "see the world through God's eyes." Singing praise songs and hymns with Jamaican taxi drivers at the airport upon our arrival in Jamaica while waiting for our ride. Learning to know the Jamaican people through teaching Bible School, living in their homes, and meeting them on neighborhood walks. Eating Jamaican foods, including many new fruits generously given to us by our Jamaican friends. Learning to know and appreciate our team members through team devotions, times of sharing testimonies, singing together during our free times, etc. A highlight for Carmen was learning some more sign language and communicating with people at Maranatha. She also enjoyed a very special 18th birthday celebration in Jamaica. Being blessed by the generosity of the Jamaicans in various situations throughout our time in Jamaica. Realizing anew what a joy it is to
fellowship with believers regardless of where the Lord places us! When we left for Jamaica, it was our desire to be used as the Lord desired and to be a blessing to the people. In turn, we were overwhelmingly blessed ourselves. We thank each one of you for your prayers and financial support. It was so encouraging to know that we were being remembered in prayer. We plan to be sharing more about our experiences soon in a Sunday evening service. Below are some prayer requests concerning Jamaica:
******************************************* Teaching Bible School in Appalachian by Janis Ranck In the 1940’s, men from the West Chester area of PA would go to the Pleasant Stream Valley in the mountains northern PA to hunt deer. The mountains and streams are pristine and beautiful-not yet discovered by tourist or touched by commercialism. There were no active churches in the area; just one small abandoned church house. The men saw a great need for a Christian witness in the community and a Bible School was begun in the summer. Eventually several Mennonite families moved to the area and a permanent church was established. This year marked the 52nd consecutive year Bible School was held in this area. My cousins who are involved with the leadership of the Mt. View Mennonite Church invited me to come and help teach this summer. I taught the 4th graders and had 8-9 students. Some of the children are third generation attendees. For a large percent of the children, this is the only spiritual input they receive all year. The church sees this as a mission opportunity in the community and holds a 2-week Bible School. While attendance was in the 80’s, there is little interest in church attendance the rest of the year. A large yellow tent was erected in the church yard at the foot of the mountain. The opening and closing sessions were held there and 4 classrooms were in the corners. My room was in one of the corners. Other classes were inside the small church and the youth had a smaller tent to themselves. My students had little if any Bible knowledge. Sometimes it was a challenge to keep them focused as the rain would blow in on our table or children from another corner classroom would get loud and entertaining. Each day after snack we had to carefully pick up all the trash so bears would not be attracted into our tent. Because of the night dampness, we transported our classroom things back and forth each day in waste baskets. |
